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II 


The  Power  of  Democracy 


ADDRESS 


BY 


ROBERT  LANSING 

Secretary  of  State  of  the  United  States 


BEFORE  THE 


Regents  of  the  University  of  the  State  of  New  York 

at  their  Convocation  at  Albany  on 

October  17,' 1919 


WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT  PRINTING  OFFICE 

1919 


The  Power  of  Democracy 


ADDRESS 


BY 


ROBERT  LANSING 

Secretary  of  State  of  the  United  States 


BEFORE  THE 


Regents  of  the  University  of  the  State  of  New  York 

at  their  Convocation  at  Albany  on 

October  17,  1919 


WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT  PRINTING  OFFICE 

1919 


3J&I'? 
u^ 


THE  POWER  OF  DEMOCRACY. 

ADDRESS  BEFORE  THE  REGENTS  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  THE  STATE  OF  NEW  YORK,  AT  THEIR 
CONVOCATION  AT  ALBANY,  ON  OCTOBER  17, 1919. 


There  come  times  in  the  lives  of  nations  as  in  the  lives  of  indi- 
viduals when  they  should  pause  and  look  back  along  the  path  which 
they  have  been  following  in  order  that  thej^  may  go  forward  with  a 
better  knowledge  and  understanding  of  that  which  lies  before  them. 
The  United  States  has  reached  such  a  time.  The  experiences  of  the 
last  few  years  have  affected  materially  our  national  life  and  our 
international  relations.  New  conceptions  of  duty  and  of  right  have 
come  into  being.  New  manifestations  of  national  power  and  national 
character  have  dispelled  former  doubt  and  apprehension  as  to  the 
future.  New  ideas  have  assumed  a  prominent  place  in  the  political 
thought  of  the  nation  and  will  affect  either  for  good  or  evil  the 
economic  and  social  life  of  the  people.  It  is  indeed  a  time  to  stop 
and  consider  the  lessons  of  the  days  through  which  we  have  passed, 
to  weigh  the  facts  with  deliberation,  so  that  we  may  wisely  meet 
the  problems  which  lie  before  us  as  a  nation. 

As  the  great  war  recedes  into  the  past  we  are  beginning  to  obtain 
a  truer  perspective  of  America's  part  in  the  events  which  mean  so 
much  to  civilization  and  to  mankind.  When  one  stands  on  a  moun- 
tainside and  gazes  upward,  he  is  unable  to  gain  an  adequate  con- 
ception of  the  height  of  the  mountain.  It  is  only  as  he  looks  back 
at  the  peak  from  the  distant  plain  that  he  comprehends  how  far  it 
towers  above  its  fellows.  So  it  is  with  American  achievement  in 
this  war.  During  the  stress  of  the  days  of  effort  we  thought  only 
of  the  way  to  accomplish  the  task.  To-day  we  realize  the  greatness 
of  the  accomplishment  and  all  that  it  means. 

And  first  of  all  we  have  obtained  a  truer  conception  of  the  Ameri- 
can spirit  and  a  better  knowledge  of  American  national  character 
than  we  had  before  this  time  of  trial.  Whatever  may  have  been 
said  of  the  mercenary  motives  of  our  lives  in  former  days,  our 
acts  have  proven  that  this  nation  is  at  heart  true  to  the  loftiest 

142267—19  3 

444293 


4  THE   POWER   OF   DEMOCRACY. 

,conceptions  of  duty  and  that  it  only  needed  the  occasion  to  demon- 
strate to  a  skeptical  world  that  a  great  democracy  was  ready — aye, 

/^e,a^er^to'<ni^ke;  aiiy  ,f?>Hcrifice  to  protect  its  principles  of  political 
freedom  from  the  destructive  forces  of  military   autocracy. 

As  we  review  that  period  of  the  war  before  the  United  States 
became  a  participant  and  consider  the  course  of  action  which 
neutrality  imposed  upon  us,  I  do  not  wonder  that  the  Allied  Nations, 
which,  though  exerting  themselves  to  the  uttermost,  could  barely 
maintain  themselves  against  the  great  military  power  of  Germany, 
should  have  considered  us  a  people  blinded  to  the  truth  by  an 
inordinate  fondness  for  wealth  and  ease,  a  people  who  had  lost  those 
high"  ideals  which  were  the  very  pillars  on  which  rested  our  national 
greatness  and  prosperity. 
X  Nor  is  it  strange  that  there  should  also  have  existed  among  the 
German  people,  even  after  we  entered  the  war,  a  belief  that  we  did 
so  unwillingly,  and  that  the  real  reason  for  our  taking  that  step 
was  because  we  had  loaned  so  much  money  to  the  Allied  Govern- 
ments that  their  defeat  would  mean  a  tremendous  loss  to  our  finan- 
cial institutions.  Not  only  would  our  reputation  as  money  wor- 
shippers induce  such  a  belief,  but  the  reason  would  appeal  strongly 

xj^o  the  German  mind  as  logical  and  sensible. 

Thank  God,  America  never  sank  so  low  as  that,  even  in  thought  i 
However  great  had  become  the  power  and  temptation  of  wealth  in 
the  daily  life  of  this  nation — and  we  should  not  deny  its  ever-grow- 
ing influence  during  the  years  before  we  entered  the  war — the  soul 
■  of  America  held  the  flame  of  patriotism  and  loyalty  to  human  rights 
which  needed  but  a  manifest  danger  to  liberty  to  fan  it  into  a  con- 
suming fire. 

From  that  epoch-making  day  in  April,  1917,  when  the  Congress 
of  the  United  States  so  gloriously  responded  to  the  President's  call 
to  arms  in  defense  of  human  rights,  and  declared  to  the  world  that 
this  Republic  was  in  a  state  of  war  with  the  Imperial  German  Gov- 
ernment, the  zeal  and  might  of  a  united  people  proclaimed  to  friend 
and  foe  alike  that  they  had  misjudged  our  national  spirit.  With  a 
generosity  unequaled,  America  gave,  and  gave,  and  gave,  until  the 
mind  fairly  staggers  in  the  vain  effort  to  comprehend  the  vastness  of 
the  sacrifice.  Of  its  men  the  nation  gave  by  the  millions;  of  its 
wealth,  by  the  billions ;  of  its  labor  and  energy  and  will,  beyond  any 


THE  POWER   OF  DEMOCRACY.  O 

computation.  Witlioiit  murmur  or  hesitation,  and  with  an  enthu- 
siasm which  has  astounded  the  whole  earth,  men  and  women  through- 
out this  land  answered  every  appeal  of  the  Government  to  do  or  to 
abstain  from  doing,  provided  that  they  were  assured  that  their  com- 
pliance would  help  win  the  war. 

The  universal  acceptance  of  the  draft  act  Avas  a  triumph  of  the 
loyalty  of  the  whole  nation  which  was  as  amazing  as  it  was  splen- 
did. The  food-rationing  without  compulsion  of  law  through  the 
voluntary  act  of  individuals  was  one  of  the  most  extraordinary 
manifestations  of  patriotic  devotion  in  this  extraordinary  time. 
The  ever-increasing  burden  of  taxation,  the  frequent  appeals  for 
war  loans  almost  fabulous  in  amount,  and  the  repeated  campaigns 
for  the  Red  Cross  and  other  humanitarian  enterprises  were  met 
by  the  people  with  a  spirit  of  approval  and  ready  response  which 
for  spontaneity  has  no  equal  in  the  annals  of  any  nation.  The  de- 
mands for  increased  products  of  the  field,  the  mine  and  the  fac- 
tory were  met  with  the  same  spirit  of  willingness  and  unflagging 
effort.  It  is  a  marvelous  record  of  popular  support  for  a  national 
cause. 

It  is  needless  to  review  the  achievements  of  our  armies  and 
navies,  the  organization  and  equipment  of  millions  of  men,  their 
transportation  overseas,  and  the  essential  and  decisive  part  which 
they  took  in  the  final  victory  over  the  invading  hosts  of  Germany. 
These  are  manifestations  of  the  same  spirit  of  devotion  and  zeal 
which  inspired  popular  effort  in  America  and  bear  witness  to  what 
Americanism  means  and  is. 

With  such  a  shining  record  of  acliievement  as  a  state  and  as 
a  people,  we  can  fearlessly  challenge  the  world  to  show  us  a  nation 
which  rose  so  unitedly  and  so  greatly  to  the  support  of  an  ideal. 
It  is  the  more  remarkable  when  we  remember  that  the  American 
people  were  not  spurred  to  action  by  the  presence  on  American 
soil  of  hostile  armies  or  the  sight  of  devastated  homes;  that  they 
had  not  witnessed  the  scenes  of  horror  and  desolation  which  stir 
men's  souls  to  the  depths  and  call  them  to  deeds  of  vengeance; 
that  their  cities  and  hamlets  had  not  become  masses  of  smoking 
ruins;  and  that  their  dear  ones  had  not  been  dragged  away  to 
slavery  or  worse  by  a  brutal  soldiery.  And  yet  with  none  of  these 
personal  incentives  to  take  up  arms,  the  United  States  as  a  nation 


O  THE  POWER  OF  DEMOCRACY. 

and  its  citizens  as  individuals  entered  the  war  against  the  Unholy 
Alliance  of  Central  Europe  with  an  iron  determination  to  sacri- 
fice their  all,  if  need  be,  to  vanquish  the  foe  of  human  liberty. 
^  What  is  the  explanation  of  this  spontaneous  uprising  of  a  whole 
people,  a  people  numbered  by  the  scores  of  millions?  No  doubt 
the  disregard  of  American  lives  and  rights,  caused  by  the  desperate 
character  of  the  struggle,  affected  many,  as  well  it  might.  No 
doubt  the  utter  lawlessness  of  the  German  leaders  and  the  brutality 
of  the  German  soldiery  awakened  a  passionate  desire  to  punish 
a  nation  which  permitted  such  deeds.  No  doubt  the  plots  and  in- 
trigues of  the  Imperial  Government  against  this  country  were  factors 
in  arousing  the  wrath  of  our  people.  But  all  these  reasons  com- 
bined are  insufficient  to  explain  the  unanimity  of  the  nation 
in  its  demand  for  war  against  the  Central  Powers.  It  was  some- 
thing deeper  and  more  impelling  than  these  causes  of  war  which 
was  decisive.  Almost  without  warning  an  impulse  to  enter  the  war 
swept  over  the  country,  an  impulse  arising  from  the  conviction, 
which  had  been  unconsciously  gaining  strength  for  many  months, 
that  liberty  and  democracy  throughout  the  world  would  be  im- 
periled if  the  Germans  were  victorious.  It  was  this  great  underly- 
ing certainty  of  impending  disaster  which  induced  the  millions  of 
our  people,  as  a  single  man,  to  demand  war. 

Unmindful  of  the  cost  and  inspired  by  a  spirit  of  devotion  to  the 
cause,  the  American  people  deliberately  entered  the  conflict  with 
the  stern  purpose  of  doing  their  full  share  in  saving  democracy  from 
the  destruction  which  threatened  it.  We  did  not  make  war  as  aven- 
gers of  the  wrongs  we  had  suffered.  We  made  war  as  crusaders  to 
wrest  from  profaning  hands  the  sacred  rights  of  mankind. 

We  are  a  nation  of  many  bloods  and  many  temperaments.  We 
are  a  conglomerate  people.  From  every  quarter  of  the  earth  multi- 
tudes have  flocked  to  our  shores,  seeking  in  America  that  freedom 
of  thought  and  action  and  that  possibility  to  rise  which  were  denied 
them  in  the  lands  of  their  nativity.  Without  the  ties  of  kinship 
and  without  the  common  language  and  mode  of  life  which  give  to 
most  nations  a  strong  bond  of  unity,  we,  as  a  people,  are  held  to- 
gether by  the  great  principle  of  democracy  which  is  fundamental 
to  our  existence  as  a  republic.  Ours  is  a  bond  of  political  faith 
rather  than  a  bond  of  common  origin.    In  this  we  differ  from  other 


THE  POWER  OF  DEMOCRACY.  7 

peoples  who  possess  a  national  character  built  up  from  the  primitive 
relationship  of  the  family  and  the  tribe,  from  ancient  tradition  and 
the  pride  of  race. 

American  nationality  and  American  national  character  rest  upon 
an  idea  of  public  and  individual  liberty  which  is  the  vital  element 
in  our  national  life.  For  that  idea  our  forefathers  struggled  and 
triumphing  they  founded  upon  it  this  Republic.  In  the  earlier 
period  of  our  history  as  a  nation  those  who  came  to  our  shores 
sought  to  escape  from  political  oppression  and  a  social  system 
founded  upon  class  distinctions.  But  in  recent  years  the  dominant 
motive  of  our  immigrants  has  changed.  It  has  been  the  desire  of 
material  benefit  rather  than  to  seek  personal  freedom  that  those  of 
foreign  birth  have  come  to  the  United  States.  The  reason  is  mani- 
fest. The  spirit  of  liberalism  in  the  past  half  century  had  become 
more  and  more  potent  in  European  countries  and  made  less  bur- 
densome the  monarchical  and  class  privileges  which  had  been  so  long 
the  instruments  of  oppression.  The  deprivation  of  political  rights 
and  the  all-pervading  sense  of  wrong  and  injustice  ceased  to  be  the 
chief  impulses  driving  men  from  the  lands  of  their  fathers  to  find 
new  homes  in  America. 

With  this  change  of  motive  on  the  part  of  the  aliens  who  in  later 
years  landed  at  our  ports  and  mingled  with  our  people,  there  was 
among  thoughtful  Americans  a  justifiable  apprehension  as  to 
how  strong  and  how  impelling  was  the  American  idea  among  the 
millions  of  our  foreign-bom  citizens  and  their  children.  It  was 
reasonably  asked  whether  those,  without  American  blood  and  with- 
out hatred  of  the  political  and  social  institutions  of  the  lands  from 
which  they  came,  would  have  the  same  passion  for  liberty,  the  same 
devotion  to  democracy,  the  same  patriotic  fervor  and  sacrificial 
spirit,  which  had  been  manifested  in  past  generations  of  Americans. 

This  World  War  has  dispelled  that  doubt  forever.  Conclusively 
and  emphatically  the  answer  has  been  given.  The  experience  of  the 
United  States  in  this  great  crisis  of  history  has  proven  to  the  world 
that  a  nation,  though  it  be  a  mixture  of  races  cemented  together 
by  a  political  idea,  is  as  truly  a  nation  as  one  rooted  in  common  birth 
and  in  centuries  of  land  tenure.  We  may  not  possess  nationality  in 
the  physical  sense,  but  we  possess  nationality  in  the  spiritual  sense. 
We  know  now  that  Americans  of  to-day,  w^hatever  may  be  their 


$  THE  POWER  OF  DEMOCRACY. 

blood,  their  language,  their  creed,  their  manners  of  life,  are  devoted 
to  the  American  idea  and  to  American  ideals  as  are  those  whose 
ancestors  were  identified  with  the  early  life  of  this  Kepublic. 

The  satisfaction,  which  we  as  loyal  Americans  feel  in  the  spiritual 
fidelity  of  our  people  to  the  underlying  principle  of  our  national 
life,  is  intensified  by  the  knowledge  that  a  democracy,  such  as  the 
United  States,  is  able,  because  inspired  with  the  true  spirit  of  patriot- 
ism, to  meet  every  emergency,  however  great.  Patriotism,  such  as 
we  witnessed  in  this  country  during  the  war  years  of  1917  and  1918, 
makes  a  democracy  a  unit  in  purpose  and  effort.  Its  manifestation 
has  given  us  a  stronger  conviction  than  we  had  before  that  in  the 
principle  of  democracy  we  have  an  instrument  which  can,  through 
uniting  the  might  of  a  people,  overcome  international  injustice  and 
prevent  the  commission  of.  those  wrongs  which  have  so  frequently 
been  the  causes  of  war. 

/'Democracy  as  the  central  principle  of  national  life  operates  other 
than  by  force  in  preventing  international  conflicts  and  in  preserv- 
ing peace  among  the  nations.  An  enlightened  people,  who  recognize 
moral  obligation,  possess  a  national  conscience  which  responds  to 
sentiments  of  justice  and  right.  The  more  complete  the  individual 
liberty  and  the  more  universal  the  enlightenment  so  much  the  more 
sensitive  is  that  conscience,  so  much  the  more  strictly  do  the  people 
hold  their  government  to  the  path  of  rectitude.  It  is  only  through 
the  instrumentality  of  democratic  institutions  that  the  national  con- 
science can  give  that  expression  of  purpose  and  attain  that  control 
over  governmental  action  which  inspire  for  the  nation  the  respect  of 
its  own  people  and  the  confidence  of  foreign  peoples. 

Let  democracy  be  honestly  and  firmly  established  as  the  principle 
upon  which  the  political  system  of  a  nation  is  erected,  and  a  gov- 
ernment is  bound  to  develop  which  is  responsive  to  the  collective 
conscience  of  the  people.  With  a  government  of  that  sort  we  can 
deal  frankly  and  without  suspicion  of  hidden  motive  because  its 
acts  are  tempered  by  the  great  moral  sense  w^hich  directs  the  popular 
will.  While  this  may  be  considered  an  over-statement  because  of  the 
measure  of  ignorance  which  prevails  among  some  peoples  and  be- 
cause of  the  common  weaknesses  of  human  nature,  with  which  only 
the  idealist  fails  to  reckon,^  think  that  in  general  we  may  regulate 
our  conduct  in  international  affairs  on  the  assurance  that  a  truly^ 


THE  POWER  or  DEMOCRACY.  9 

democratic  state  would  not  knowingly  wage  an  aggressive  or  un- 
just war  against  another  statei 

But  there  is  another  reason — and  possibly  this  is  even  stronger 
than  the  one  which  I  have  just  stated — for  asserting  that  the  prin- 
ciple of  democracy  is  the  great  enemy  of  war  as  well  as  the  great 
guarantor  of  international  peace.  If  I  have  drawn  true  conclusions 
from  history,  I  am  correct  in  saying  that  the  people  of  every  nation 
entitled  to  be  called  "  civilized  "  desire  peace  and  abhor  war ;  that 
a  people,  appreciating  the  real  object,  have  never  entered  upon  a 
war  of  conquest  provided  their  will  found  true  and  free  expression ; 
and  that  they  do  not  willfully  oppress  the  weak  or  act  unjustly 
toward  their  neighbors.  In  a  word,  the  conscience  of  an  enlightened 
people-;-and  I  mean  by  "  people  "  all  the  people  and  not  a  privileged 
political  class — checks  the  evil  motives  of  their  Government  and 
only  fails  to  direct  national  conduct  aright  when  their  public  serv- 
ants are  not  subject  to  the  will  of  all  or  when  theiy  misrepresent  the 
popular  desires. 

To  insure  to  the  world  a  continuing  state  of  international  peace 
democracy  should  be  made  the  standing  policy  of  civilization.  I 
mean  real  democracy  and  not  the  mere  form  without  the  substance. 
Real  democracy,  based  upon  individual  political  equality  and  free 
from  class  privilege  or  influence,  is  the  only  agency  through  which 
expression  can  be  given  to  the  conscience  of  a  nation  and  to  the 
popular  hatred  of  war.  Democratic  nations  are  not  aggressive  and 
domineering.  They  resent  and  resist  aggression  by  others.  They  are 
not  influenced  by  cupidity  or  improper  ambitions.  They  are  just 
to  the  powerful  and  to  the  powerless.  They  do  not  violate  their  word 
or  permit  personal  ambitions  to  divert  them  from  the  constant  pur- 
pose to  do  that  which  is  right. 

I  am  firmly  convinced  that,  if  every  nation  was  a  democracy  in 
reality,  as  is  this  Republic,  universal  peace  would  be  an  accom- 
plished fact  and  not  a  goal  toward  which  the  world  looks  with  long- 
ing eyes  striving  to  devise  methods  by  which  it  may  be  attained^  ■ 

Meanwhile  we  must  seek  other  means  of  checking  the  wrongful  use 
of  force  among  nations.  Every  agency  therefore  which  has  for  its 
purpose  the  prevention  of  international  wars  and  the  preservation 
of  international  peace  deserves  the  earnest  and  generous  support  of 
all  men  whose  horizon  is  not  limited  by  selfishness  or  ignorance.    The 


10  THE  POWER   OF  DEMOCRACY. 

American  people  with  their  abhorrence  of  war  should  be  the  last  to- 
re] ect  any  instrumentality  which  gives  promise  of  preserving  amity 
between  nations  and  of  hindering,  if  it  does  not  actually  prevent,  an 
appeal  to  force.  /Political  antipathies  and  partizanship  ought  not  to 
influence  the  consideration  of  a  great  plan  of  international  organiza- 
tion to  support  a  state  of  peace.  Objections  have  been  made  to  tha 
Covenant  of  the  League  of  Nations  which  is  incorporated  in  the  Peace 
Treaty  with  Germany.  It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at,  considering  the 
complexity  of  the  subject.  In  fact  I  do  not  believe  such  a  document 
could  ever  be  so  perfectly  drafted  that  it  would  win  unanimous  ap- 
proval. But  none  of  the  objections,  over  which  so  much  oratory  has 
been  spilt,  bulks  large  compared  with  the  will  and  purpose  of  the 
nations  expressed  in  the  Covenant.  It  is  my  unqualified  judgment 
that  the  League  of  Nations  should  be  fully  tested  in  its  present  form 
before  being  condemned,  if  for  no  other  reason  than  that  to  reject  it 
would  be  to  discourage  future  attempts  to  obtain  unity  of  action 
among  the  nations  in  the  effort  to  avoid  international  conflicts.  We 
can  not  as  an  influential  power  in  the  world  assume  such  a  respon- 
sibility. 

Admitting,  for  the  sake  of  argument,  all  the  faults  and  undesirable 
features  which  its  bitterest  opponents  have  raised  against  the  Cove- 
nant, I  am  prepared  to  say  that  it  ought  to  be  adopted  and  tried  for 
it  represents  to-day  an  international  concert  devoted  to  peace.  The 
United  States,  I  am  convinced,  will  not  be  the  nation  to  check  this 
movement  or  to  discourage  the  civilized  states  of  the  earth  from  seek- 
ing by  united  purpose  and  counsel  to  restrain  the  use  of  force  in  the 
settlement  of  their  disputes.  If  after  a  fair  trial  the  League  fails  to 
accomplish  its  objects,  then  is  the  time  by  amendment  to  make  the 
Covenant  more  efficient^ 

/Such  action  as  that  which  was  taken  by  the  Conference  at  Paris 
when  it  adopted  the  Covenant,  makes  for  peace  but  does  not  insure  its 
permanency.  It  is  a  powerful  agency  but  not  an  all-powerful  one. 
The  only  certainty  of  unbroken  peace  in  this  world,  I  believe,  lies  in 
the  general  adoption  of  democracy  as  the  supreme  political  principle 
of  all  nations.  Until  that  time  comes  we  must  use  other  agencies  but 
must  not  expect  too  much  of  them.  Yet  we  should  never  lose  sight  of 
the  real  preventive  or  cease  to  advance  the  policy  of  democracy,  of 
real  democracy,  among  the  nations^ 


THE  POWER  OF  DEMOCRACY.  11 

It  fell  to  the  lot  of  this  country  to  demonstrate  the  might  as 
well  as  the  spirit  of  democracy.  In  this  most  critical  time  the 
United  States  accomplished  all  that  had  ever  been  claimed  for 
it  and  more  than  had  been  expected  of  it.  By  its  deeds  it  proved 
that  a  people  acting  in  their  sovereign  righii  possess  the  will  and 
the  power  to  meet  a  foreign  foe  with  vigor  and  success.  We  have 
lived  through  an  epoch  which  tested  our  democratic  institutions 
to  the  extreme,  and  we  have  stood  the  test.  Thus  in  time  of  war 
democracy  is  magnificently  vindicated.  / 

To-day  new  problems  have  arisen  to  try  the  efficiency  of  democ- 
racy. Victors  over  autocracy,  w©  have  discredited  the  system  of 
class  based  upon  birth  and  title,  and  we  have  now  to  meet  a  new 
classism  as  strongly  though  not  as  manifestly  hostile  to  democ- 
racy and  equality  of  individuals  as  the  old  classism.  It  is  in  for- 
eign lands  that  this  new  enemy  has  most  radically  developed  and 
openly  attacked  individual  liberty.  But  this  country  is  not  free 
from  the  danger.  Today  the  rights  of  particular  classes  over  other 
classes  of  our  population  are  being  preached  in  our  streets,  and 
appeals  to  selfishness,  to  envy  and  to  ignorance,  under  the  guise  of 
justice,  are  being  sent  broadcast  throughout  the  land.  Apostles 
of  unrest  and  even  of  revolution,  as  well  as  others  less  radical  and 
more  sincere,  taking  advantage  of  the  industrial  and  commercial 
confusion  resulting  from  the  war,  are  seeking  converts  to  doctrines 
which  aim  to  grant  special  privileges  to  certain  groups  of  citizens 
and  to  deprive  others  of  those  private  rights  which  are  inseparable 
from  the  American  conception  of  individual  liberty. 

We  must  not  close  our  eyes  to  the  progress  of  events  and  to  the 
tendency  of  the  forces  which  are  being  exerted.  We  must  not  rest 
in  a  state  of  indifference  or  of  false  confidence.  It  is  a  time  for 
action.  Democracy  is  in  danger,  from  within  rather  than  from 
outside  the  body  politic.  Again  we,  Americans,  are  called  to  the 
defense  of  the  American  principle  which  is  being  attacked  not  only 
by  insidious  foes  but  by  friends  who  fail  to  see  the  wrong  which 
they  are  doing.  We  must  meet  this  new  attack  with  the  same  un- 
yielding and  courageous  spirit  as  that  with  which  our  soldiers  met 
the  Germans  on  the  soil  of  France.  It  took  us  long  to  realize  the 
great  menace  of  German  imperialism  to  the  vital  principle  of  our 
national  life,  but  when  it  was  realized  we  unitedly  entered  the  con- 


12  THE  POWER  OF  DEMOCRACY. 

flict  and  fought  on  to  victory.  I  believe  that  realization  of  the  pres- 
ent danger  will  again  call  forth  the  best  there  is  in  this  Republic 
and  we  will  succeed  in  overcoming  those  who  seek  to  pervert  democ- 
racy by  injecting  into  it  a  species  of  class  imperialism  which  is  more 
attractive  than  the  ancient  forms  because  it  appeals  to  those  who 
have  suffered  in  the  past  from  injustice  and  from  denial  of  that 
equality  of  opportunity  which  it  is  the  duty  of  democracy  to 
maintain. 

No  truer  declaration  was  ever  uttered  than  "  Eternal  vigilance  is 
the  price  of  liberty,"  and  the  American  people  ought  to-day  to  take 
that  thought  to  heart  and  resist  every  movement  which  is  out  of 
accord  with  the  liberty  and  equality  of  the  citizens  of  this  Republic 
without  distinction  as  to  race,  class,  or  condition.  The  dangers,  as 
I  see  them,  are — a  disposition  to  compromise  the  principle  of  equal 
rights  with  the  demand  for  special  rights;  an  apparent  willingness 
to  conciliate  by  concessions  in  order  to  avoid  for  the  time  being 
at  least  those  evil  conditions  which  threaten  to  result  from  the 
denial  of  class  privileges;  a  timidity  in  meeting  the  issue  squarely 
and  boldly  pointing  out  in  what  way  it  menaces  the  idea  of  democ- 
racy ;  and  last,  but  by  no  means  least,  the  tendency  of  many  leaders 
of  political  thought  to  temporize  with  and  placate  certain  elements 
of  our  population  by  accepting  in  a  measure  undemocratic  doctrines 
which  plainly  violate  the  essential  principle  of  the  American  political 
system. 

During  the  progress  of  a  war  opportunism,  if  it  does  not  mean 
lawlessness,  is  always  justifiable  in  the  struggle  for  victory,  but  in 
time  of  peace  when  face  to  face  with  great  social  and  economic 
problems,  national  and  international,  opportunism  is  the  resort  of 
shallow  minds  impelled  by  political  ambition  and  greed  for  power, 
or  by  a  moral  cowardice  which  is  as  contemptible  as  it  is  un-Ameri- 
can. We  can  not  meet  successfully  the  present  problems  by  following 
leaders,  who  to  advance  their  own  political  fortunes  counsel  an 
abandonment  of  principle  for  the  sake  of  expediency.  By  adopting 
such  a  policy  we  will  weaken  the  American  conception  of  democ- 
racy and  encourage  those  who  consciously  or  unconsciously  strive 
for  a  classism  which  can  not  be  reconciled  to  that  conception.  If  we 
had  listened  to  the  opportunist,  we  would  never  have  been  an  inde- 
pendent people;   we  would  never  have  been  a  union;   we  would 


THE  POWER  OF  DEMOCRACY.  13 

never  have  entered  the  World  War.  If  we  listen  to  the  opportunist 
now,  America  will  never  accomplish  its  promised  destiny  or  prove 
to  the  world  that  democracy  is  capable  of  meeting  any  crisis  how- 
ever grave,  and  of  protecting  individual  liberty  from  its  ancient 
enemy,  special  privilege,  however  disguised  by  popular  phrase  or 
pleasing  epigram. 

Democracy  has  made  this  nation  what  it  is.  Democracy  can  make 
the  world  what  it  ought  to  be.  Whatever  may  happen,  we  must  not 
shrink  from  the  duty  of  maintaining  in  this  country  democracy  in 
its  purity,  and  we  must  not  cease  our  efforts  to  advance  its  cause 
throughout  the  earth.  A  great  chapter  of  the  history  of  the  United 
States  is  being  written  in  these  days.  It  must  not  be  recorded  that 
we  made  "  the  world  safe  for  democracy,"  but  that  we  failed  to  make 
^'America  safe  for  democracy." 

Let  us  not  forget  what  American  democracy  has  done  for  human 
liberty.  Let  us  not  forget  what  democracy  can  do  for  universal 
peace.  Democracy  was  worth  fighting  for  and  worth  dying  for,  and 
it  is  worth  guarding  sacredly  from  every  contaminating  influence. 
With  it  as  the  dominant  idea  of  our  national  life  no  American  need 
fear  for  the  future  of  this  Eepublic.  With  it  as  the  supreme  politi- 
cal principle  of  the  nations  we  may  look  forward  to  an  era  of  per- 
manent peace. 

o 


'•J&^  .'-'v 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
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SEP  111933 


MOV 


l5t940Wl 


APR  30  1942P 

DEC  l2  1952 


ftiCS   1952 


^ 


^m-^ 


"'D  Lip 
JAN  2  2'64  -6 


^' 


REC'D  LD 

B2  7'65.jpM 

JUL  06 1990 


LD  21-50m-l,'33 


PAT.JAN.21,iauB 


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